Fantasy Insider: Fantasy golf advice for the Mayakoba Golf Classic

Opportunity knocks in beautiful Puerto Rico this week, as Grande Reserve Country Club once again hosts a bevy of PGA TOUR players looking to push their seasons to greater heights. Core golf fans know it is weeks like these where players often come of age. Sure they’re not in Mexico City at a World Golf Championship, but some of the 120 players in Puerto Rico certainly will be in the future. Those with an eye on the FedExCup Playoffs know a few points here in this vibrant Caribbean destination could make all the difference, not to mention the two-year winner’s exemption and a spot in the upcoming PLAYERS Championship (if not already exempt) that are both up for grabs as well. RELATED: Power Rankings | Trainer set for Puerto Rico Open defense | No joke: Trainer dabbles in sitcom writing THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER The par-5 18th was the third easiest hole at Grande Reserve last season, playing to a 4.830 average, including 4.4 on Sunday, meaning those pushing down the stretch know an opportunity awaits. At 630 yards, it’s no pushover, but it did yield three eagles and 120 birdies last season. The hole borders the “Ensenada” Bay, which plays downwind. The two fairway bunkers on the right are very much in play off the tee, so players favor the left side. The risk of going for the green in two comes with the risk of using too much club, as recovery shots from behind the green can be very costly. WEATHER CHECK From meteorologist Joe Halvorson: Thursday will be breezy once again, with moisture levels becoming a bit more enhanced. This will allow for an increase in the shower coverage mainly prior to sunrise and after 4 p.m., along with potential that a few of these showers produce brief heavy rainfall. Showers will remain a possibility on Friday and Saturday, but a drying trend should keep the coverage fairly sparse – especially Friday afternoon through Saturday. Shower chances are expected to return Sunday afternoon ahead of an approaching cold front. For the latest weather news from Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, check out the PGA TOUR Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK Just in time for Puerto Rico… it’s a great course for me as evidenced by me doing well there last year. It’s been a long 10 months of struggling, but I’m just happy to be hitting the ball straight again… now that I’m hitting the right shots and missing in a narrower window I have a chance. BY THE NUMBERS 16 – Number of PGA TOUR rookies in the Puerto Rico Open field. There has not been a rookie winner through 18 events in this PGA TOUR season, the longest stretch to start a season since 2009, when rookies went winless the entire season. Three of the last nine winners here were rookies, so perhaps the drought will be broken. 5 – Number of Australians in the field. Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Adam Scott have brought their country three wins in the last six weeks, so maybe it is worth keeping an eye on Cameron Davis, Rhein Gibson, Cameron Percy, John Senden and Robert Allenby this week. 22 – Number of missed cuts for Martin Trainer since he won last season’s Puerto Rico Open. Trainer is a great character and broke a long drought last week at The Genesis Invitational, having kept a great perspective despite going through a big slump since his win. He’s most definitely someone to root for. He also has designs on being a comedy writer! SCATTERSHOTS Springboard to Stardom: Since the tournament’s inception in 2008, the Puerto Rico Open has helped elevate the careers of several PGA TOUR stars with strong play, including the likes of Jason Day, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Emiliano Grillo. In his second season on TOUR, Day finished T2 in Puerto Rico, his best finish in his first 39 starts. Now he holds 12 TOUR wins, including a PLAYERS Championship and PGA Championship. Finau won his lone TOUR event at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open; since then, Finau has accumulated 28 top-10s, including six runner-ups. Past sponsor exemptions include Spieth (2013) and Koepka (2014). Spieth earned Special Temporary Membership soon after his runner-up finish in 2013 and was named PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year thereafter; He has since won the FedExCup (2015) and accumulated 11 career PGA TOUR wins, including three majors; Koepka, currently No. 2 in the world, has seven PGA TOUR wins, including four majors. Bryson DeChambeau lost in a playoff at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open and went on to win his first PGA TOUR title later that season at the John Deere Classic, his first of now five TOUR wins. After finishing runner-up at the 2015 Puerto Rico Open, Emiliano Grillo won the 2015 Safeway Open and was voted PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.  Keep an eye on University of Georgia junior Davis Thompson. He’s No. 4 in the world amateur golf ranking and finished T23 at the RSM Classic in the fall. He was the Medalist at the prestigious Western Amateur and recently won the Jones Cup by nine shots. He shot 203 to set the scoring record at a tournament where past champs include TOUR winners Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Kyle Stanley, Corey Conners and DJ Trahan. Thompson will be pulling double duty on the island, as he will play in a college event in Puerto Rico on Sunday and Monday before teeing it up in the Puerto Rico Open. Oh, and his father Todd – he’s the tournament director for The RSM Classic and will caddie for his son. The Puerto Rico Open and non-profit organization Good Sports delivered $1 million in sports equipment and monetary contributions to 33 non-profits that benefit thousands of kids in Puerto Rico. The contribution was achieved thanks to Kids Pro Fun, a tournament campaign to positively impact the lives in the community. The campaign, supported by individuals, corporate donors and friends of the PGA TOUR, exceeded its goal and reached the largest donation and delivery made by Good Sports. 

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Marc Leishman is rounding back into form just in time for his title defense at the Farmers Insurance Open, but he'll be playing with two others who have enjoyed uncommon success at Torrey Pines: Jon Rahm and Jason Day. PGA TOUR LIVE's streaming broadcast from Torrey will begin at 12 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday. Related: Tee times | The First Look, How to Watch The Featured Groups will include stars like Farmers ambassador Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, plus former Farmers winners Jason Day (twice), Phil Mickelson (twice), Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson and Leishman. They will be competing at Torrey North (one round) and the tougher Torrey South (three, for those who make the cut). The Featured Groups, which will tee off at 1:30 and 1:40 p.m. ET each day at Torrey Pines, are listed below. To prepare you for PGA TOUR LIVE's coverage, our roundtable of writers convened to answer a burning question around each group. Enjoy. THURSDAY Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Jon Rahm – Call this the Clash of the Titans group, with the threesome of Day, defending champ Leishman, and Rahm accounting for four Farmers victories - Day having won it twice. What happens when strength meets strength meets strength? CAMERON MORFIT: I'll go straight chalk and pick Rahm. He's not only the highest ranked player in this power group, but he also has the lowest scoring average (69.31) of the three at the Farmers. A win, a runner-up and a T5 in just four starts? Not too shabby. SEAN MARTIN: I'll be curious to hear what Rahm has to say about the injury that forced him out of The American Express. Leishman has turned things around just in time for his title defense, coming off a T4 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and 13th-place finish at Augusta National. He has five top-10s in 12 starts at Torrey Pines, including last year's win and two runners-up. BEN EVERILL: I'll have to check with our stats gurus, but I wonder if the same three players have played in the same group in all four rounds while comprising the final group in the final round. It might sound completely implausible, but I would not be surprised to see all three there when the whips are cracking on Sunday. Day is the mystery - how will he go with his new mixed bag of clubs and altered swing under Chris Como? He has a happy hunting ground to test it all out at least. Leishman is a great chance to go back-to-back. Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff – It's been more than a year since McIlroy, making his 2021 debut, won on TOUR. Koepka is coming off an injury-riddled 2020 and didn't win, either, and nor did Wolff. Which player is most overdue for a bounce-back? MORFIT: McIlroy looked good in Abu Dhabi last week and has a T3 and T5 in his only two Farmers starts. On the other hand, Koepka hasn't played the Farmers since missing the cut in '17, and Wolff opened with a 76 last year on the way to a T21. I'll take Rory. MARTIN: After what we saw last week in Abu Dhabi - where he was lapped by Tyrrell Hatton in the final round — it's definitely Rory. Brooks was injured. Wolff is still just 21 and he had his chances, including in a couple majors. They have their reasons why they weren't in the winner's circle. Rory's drought is inexplicable. EVERILL: I have to tack on with the other guys here. Rory McIlroy is capable of winning every tournament he plays, and last week's form is important. Koepka and Wolff will be better for the run in the desert last week also - particularly Wolff who was rattled by an unfortunate Rules incident. FRIDAY Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed – Fowler is still waiting to see the full fruits of his most recent swing change, while his friend, Watson, has famously never had a lesson. When it comes to knowing about the swing, are you a knowledge-seeker or an ignorance-is-bliss guy? MORFIT: I'm with Watson on this one; the less I'm thinking about mechanics, the better I play. And on those occasions where I tried to fix my swing to be more technically sound, it never really worked. Of course, I'm not extravagantly talented like these guys, either. MARTIN: I'm in the worst possible place, right in the middle of those two extremes. I'll see something on TV, check out how it looks in front of my bathroom mirror and then commit to the change without ever hitting a ball. By the time I make it out to the range, I'm in the middle of an overhaul on par with Tiger's transition from Harmon to Haney. EVERILL: Those who know me know the swing I turned up with when working on the PGA TOUR was as homemade as Watson's just not on the same planet in terms of skill. After much friendly ribbing from Australian players, I was sent to be fixed and was on my way before having children cut into my time. So now, it's a combo of both, and I would NEVER win a pretty swing contest. It does however win a bit of match play cash. Funnily enough I recently introduced a Bubba taught deliberate slice into my repertoire as my grip only usually allows for right to left ball flight. Xander Schauffele, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth – Schauffele and Mickelson are both San Diego guys, while Spieth is a former world No. 1, but this group has struggled here of late. Schauffele has missed the cut in four of five starts, two-time Farmers champion Mickelson (2000-01) hasn't seen the weekend in three of his last five, and Spieth's best in five tries is T19. Who is most overdue at Torrey Pines? MORFIT: Mickelson never warmed to the redesigned Torrey South, and Spieth isn't his best on poa annua greens. The fluke is Schauffele. There's no reason why his record should be so poor, except that it's his hometown tournament. Maybe he needs to want it less? No way he doesn't start to improve. MARTIN: I think it has to be Xander, who seems to have a knack for playing well anywhere. Since the start of last season, he has 21 top-25s in his 23 starts. But his best finish in five trips to Torrey Pines is T25. Shrug emoji. EVERILL: I wish Xander was Australian. There. I said it. Schauffele is one of my favorites on TOUR because he is gritty and fights for everything. He loves punching above his weight class. His record at Torrey is nothing other than trying too hard like Cameron suggests. If he can relax into the week, he can win. It happens a lot on TOUR. We haven't had a local win THE PLAYERS in ages, Jason Day struggles at Memorial. Some guys just feel the home pressure a little too much. Phil can't keep it straight enough here, sadly, and Jordan is on the improve, but not sure Torrey is where we will see the fruit.

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